By Oral Roberts
Whenever you begin to believe for a miracle in your life or the life of someone you love, you’re sure to meet opposition. But don’t give up! Keep believing! Hold on to the vision of your loved ones being healed or saved because faith knows that if it holds on, God can answer.
Someone Held On for Paul
In Acts 9:22–25, Saul of Tarsus was in Damascus shortly after his dramatic conversion. He was testifying of Jesus so strongly that the religious leaders got mad and decided to kill him.
They watched the gates of this great walled city day and night so that Saul couldn’t escape. But the Christians in Damascus helped him escape one night by letting him down over the wall in a basket. At great personal danger to themselves, they held on to the rope that freed the man who would become Paul the Apostle.
These Christians held the rope at night. You know, night time is a wonderful time to slip out of bed and be on your knees in prayer. Long after I was healed of tuberculosis as a teenager, my mother told me, “Oral, many nights I got up after midnight and walked the floor,
praying for you. I called your name to the Lord because I wanted you to be saved and healed. I didn’t want you to lose your soul.”
If the Lord should awaken you and slip a spiritual rope in your hand to hold for some lost soul or some member of your family, consider just going ahead and slipping out of bed to pray.
You May Be the Only One
Those men holding the rope for Saul were the only ones in the city who held the rope that night.
You may be thinking, Brother Roberts, I’ve held the rope so long. It gets so lonely and the burden is so heavy. I just don’t know if I can hold the rope any longer. But consider this: you may be the only one in the world holding that particular rope.
Think of those men in Damascus. Their lives were in danger. If they had been caught, not only would Saul have been killed—they would have been killed also.
But they knew they were the only ones holding the rope. The only way Saul was going to get out of that city alive and become the great Apostle Paul was for someone to hold that rope.
You may not know right now how great a person is on the end of your rope—that child, that son or daughter, that loved one you’re praying for. As you lift them up in prayer, you may not know what that prayer is going to mean. If you’re discouraged and feel like you want to quit, I encourage you to hold on a little longer! Don’t give up! Hold on to that rope and keep believing God for miracles.
Don’t Give Up!
You may be holding the rope for yourself. Maybe you’re sick, or you’ve gotten some bad news and you’re afraid. Maybe you feel like you can’t hold on any longer. But don’t turn loose because your healing basket may be about to touch the ground!
You may have lost your job, or be worried about inflation and debt and finances. But hold on to the rope. Your prosperity basket may be about to touch the ground. Don’t give up. Stay in faith until your answer from the Lord comes.
You are not reading this article by accident today. God is concerned about you. He’s interested in your healing. He’s interested in supplying your finances. You don’t know how close you may be to your answer! Your basket may be just about to touch the ground, so don’t let go of the rope! I want to pray for you now:
In the Name of Jesus, be healed and set free in every area of your life. God strengthen you in your inner man, in your soul. God heal your body, your family, and your circumstances beginning this moment. I pray and believe in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
